Justice Department Sends Warnings To NYC, Other Sanctuary Cities

Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks during a press conference in Washington D.C

Eleena Tovar
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23 Abril, 2017, 21:03

The statement came as the Justice Department intensified threats to crack down on so-called "sanctuary cities" that refuse to comply with federal immigration authorities.

Ed Mullins, president of the NYPD's Sergeants Benevolent Association, blasted Mayor de Blasio and NYPD leadership for defying immigration law saying that Sessions was "right" to hold the city accountable for not following the law.

He cited the city's low crime rate and the organizations that contributed to the low crime rate. "It's a message that seems to have reached everywhere but Washington, DC", de Blasio said.

"We did not become the safest big city in America by being 'soft on crime.' I've never met a member of the NYPD who is soft on crime".

"When I heard that statement, my blood began to boil", O'Neill told reporters.

"New York City continues to see gang murder after gang murder, the predictable outcome of the city's "soft on crime" stance", the Justice Department statement reads. "To say we are soft on crime is absolutely ludicrous". He highlighted the department's sometimes controversial gang busts had netted roughly 1,000 suspects in the past year, a lot of them still on Rikers Island awaiting processing. Since 1993, murder is down 82 percent, shootings are down 81 percent and overall crime is down 76 percent, according to O'Neill, who has served as police commissioner since September.

O'Neill ended his remarks by echoing de Blasio's comment that the statement was "outrageous".

Officials there must provide proof from an attorney that they are following the law.

The missives appear to follow up on U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' declaration last month that his department would deny applications for funding from cities that do not fully cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which itself followed up on the executive order President Donald Trump signed in January severing all federal outlays to sanctuary cities.

[T] he City's intransigence has placed in jeopardy millions in U.S. Department of Justice grant funds that we count on to help protect our communities.

"I like to think of myself as a pretty calm and measured person, and I think most of the time I present myself that way".